Curveball
by anonymous1222
Summary: It's been a year since Graduation and Kim and Ron are still going strong, doing their best to save the world while maintaining a relationship and stable college life. But when a mysterious doctor makes an attempt on Kim's life, will the dynamic duo and their naked mole rat be able to stop him before his grand scheme gets set in motion? Kim/Ron. Will feature villains new and old.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

June 14th

California State College, just north of Los Angeles

"Don't worry Rufus, she's going to show up any minute now," Ron said to the naked mole rat that had nestled itself comfortably on his blond head as the boy twiddled his thumbs and whistled softly to himself, "Yup, I'm telling you. She'll show up soon." He leaned against the exterior of his dorm and crossed his arms as Rufus scurried down to his wrist and pointed at the plastic watch, speaking in a voice that only Ron could possibly understand, "Yeah, I know she's half an hour late, but she'll be here."

The naked mole rat let out a sigh as he crawled down Ron's leg and into the side pocket on his pants. Growing worried, Ron pulled out his phone, "No voicemails," the stubborn tone had left his voice, "where is she?"

Somewhere Beneath Los Angeles

"Where am I?" Kim couldn't see, and a constant sharp pain shot from the back of her head whenever she shifted her head, "What happened?" she tried to reach a hand up to her head to rub the pain away, but her arms and legs were bound by leather straps to the table she was lying on.

"She's awake, Doctor," Kim heard the feminine voice from just behind her head.

"Drakken?" she gritted her teeth to act tough, though she knew that if he was behind this most recent kidnapping she wasn't in any real danger.

"Not quite," a fleeting moment of panic passed through the redhead as the deep, unfamiliar voice rang in her ears, but as with most situations like this she merely smirked at the danger, "I'm afraid your old nemesis isn't the one you'll have to worry about tonight."

That did explain why the female voice didn't belong to Shego. "Oh?" Kim said as she fought against the leather straps, "then just who do I have the pleasure of meeting this evening?" she couldn't think of a villain, super or otherwise, who possessed that voice, but she always welcomed a new challenge. Things had been rather slow since Drakken and Shego helped save the day during her high school graduation almost a year back, "And do you think we can hurry it up? I kinda have something important to get to," her dates with Ron had a habit of getting crashed like this, and just once she would like to be able to go and enjoy some of their time off without having to escape danger.

"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners," Kim kept track of the sound heavy boots crossing only a few yards behind her, "Emma, would you be so kind as to remove the blindfold for our guest?"

"Of course, Doctor," the woman reached behind Kim's head, being surprisingly careful about not being too rough on the area that was causing the girl quite a bit of pain, and undid the blindfold before taking a few steps back.

"There," the doctor said as the piece of black fabric fell to the floor, "Is that better?"

It took a moment for Kim's eyes to adjust to the light, but once her vision was restored her mind quickly went to work as she scanned the room for any clue that could give away her location, "Well this is new," she uttered, shocked at what she found: a rather plain room, concrete walls, lit only by two surprisingly bright lightbulbs. She had expected a lair, a couple of minions, maybe even a death ray or two. Almost every villain she faced was a fan of eccentric, over the top displays, so the rather mundane revelation really threw her off.

"Well what were you expecting?" Kim tried to crane her neck to see who the voice belonged to, but he was too far off and the light directly above her head was making it difficult to see, "Evil lairs and convoluted schemes have never worked with you in the past. Besides, I prefer a much more practical approach."

"Approach to what?" Kim asked, hoping to draw out time until she could loosen her restraints and break free, "What do you plan to do? And how did you manage to kidnap me in the first place?" she was almost there. With just a little more force she could get her first hand free.

"Emma," the mysterious Doctor, ignoring Kim's questions, said to his assistant, "I think we're done here."

Kim heard the man's footsteps and tried to follow them around the room, but he clung to the shadows, rendering it impossible to make out any distinguishing features, "Well let me guess, you plan on leaving me in this room so that some terrible death trap will kill my while you get to watch me from some video room?" While that would make it even easier to escape, she would much prefer to stop the man who kidnapped her right then and there. She just needed a little more time.

"Not quite," the doctor said as he opened the door, revealing a head of short-cut blond hair, "I only figured it wouldn't be proper to kill you while you were unconscious. Emma, it's time we left."

"What?" This was so unlike what Kim was used to. No long drawn out speech about his motives? No excited declaration of having defeated The Kim Possible? Not even a single name drop?

"Yes Doctor," Kim looked at Emma who once again stood over her. Tall, skinny, with red hair and gray eyes, the assistant gently caressed Kim's cheek in her left hand, "I'm sorry about this," the woman's hand moved to her hip and she flicked out a switchblade, "It's nothing personal." The woman reared back her arm and drove the knife toward Kim's chest.

"I don't think so," Kim shouted as she finally freed her right hand from the straps, but it was too late. She barely managed to touch her attacker when the blade came down on her chest, cutting the thin golden chain of her locket in the process. It hadn't hurt as much as Kim would have expected, but she let out a scream of pain as she fought to prevent Emma from removing the blade, knowing that having it pulled out spelled certain death.

But just as she was beginning to lose her grip, the most welcome of voices echoed through the halls outside the door, "KIIIIIMMMMM!"

"Ron," the heroine barely had enough strength left to say the words, but the arrival of Ron Stoppable put a sense of haste into the mysterious Doctor.

"Emma, now," he commanded, without even a hint of anger or frustration in his voice, and he and his assistant ran through the doorway and out of sight mere seconds before Ron arrived.

"Oh my god," Ron pulled out his phone and dialed the first number he could think of.

"Ron?" Wade's tired voice rang over speakerphone as Ron worked to undo the straps securing Kim to the table, "I've been up for nearly three days. Can't your homework questions wait until the morning?"

"Not now, Wade. Emergency. Kim needs help," he cried, his hands shaking so much that he was completely unable to work the strap around his girlfriend's ankle, doing his best to look away from the blood that was dripping to the floor.

"What kind of help?" Wade responded with a sense of urgency in his voice that seemed to have snapped him awake.

"Stabbed...Hospital...NOW!" tears rolled down his face as he finally managed to undo the first strap before moving onto the next.

"I've got a lock on your position," Wade said as the sound of frantic typing on keys came through the phone, "Hold tight, and whatever you do, don't move her."

"It's going to be okay, Kim," Ron cried as he knelt by the table and held her hand tightly in his own, afraid that at any moment she might slip away, "It's going to be okay." Kim tried to reach up and touch the boy, but her strength quickly left her as she fell into unconsciousness.

It didn't take long for the ambulance and the police to arrive. The medics carefully lifted Kim onto a stretcher and rushed her to the hospital, leaving Ron behind with the police.

"Excuse me," a middle aged cop with dark gray hair tapped Ron on the shoulder, "I need to ask you to come with me."

Los Angeles Police Department

The police interrogator, a young burly man with slick black hair combed to the back and a hardened face that screamed "no nonsense," sat at the table in a chair across from Ron. He organized the folders and evidence bags on the table before he pressed record on the tape recorder, "Please state your name."

"Ron Stoppable." Ron answered, barely able to keep focus after several hours of having to explain the scene.

The officer looked at Ron for a moment as if he still couldn't believe that was really the boy's name, but the drivers license they found in his wallet said otherwise, "What are you doing in Los Angeles, Mr. Stoppable? Your license says you live in Middleton…." He squinted at the tiny print, trying to make out the state the boy resided in, but couldn't thanks to a black smudge over the abbreviation.

"I go to school at California State."

"Which campus?" the officer dropped the license on the table.

"No, not California State University. California State College." While Kim had gotten accepted to every college she applied to, and had even been asked to attend a few that she hadn't, CSC was about the only school that Ron could get into. Kim had ended up choosing UCLA, claiming that it was her top choice, but he always had a guilty feeling that she had made that decision for his sake.

Moving on with the interrogation, the officer asked the next question, "What is your relationship to Miss Possible?"

"She's my girlfriend," Ron answered.

"Okay," the officer responded, a flicker of a smile appearing on his face in obvious disbelief over the boy's statement, "And why were you found in the basement of a vacant building with a knife in your….girlfriend's chest?"

"I already told you," Ron said, his voice growing louder as he grew angrier and more impatient, "She was late for our date and I was getting worried."

"And just how did you know where to find her?"

"Her necklace," Ron quickly answered, "she has a tracking device in it."

"So this is hers?" the officer slid a small, clear evidence bag with the bloody locket and a broken chain across the table.

"Yes, if you open it up you'll see." Wade had built devices for the two of them in case of an emergency. Kim had it installed in the locket that Ron gave her at the start of the school year, and Ron had his installed in a ring she let him keep after their first mission as college students.

"So let me get this straight. You were waiting for Miss Possible to pick you up for a date. She got kidnapped, and you got worried when she was late so you tracked her to what you described as," he picked up his clipboard and read Ron's words back to him, "a creepy, dark, basement thing," he put it down, "where you managed to save her at the last minute?"

"Yes…I mean no….look, I tracked her there and heard her screaming so I ran. I—" he cut himself off, "Wait a minute," he narrowed his eyes at the officer and pushed himself up from the chair, "You think I did this to her," he screamed.

"Sit down, Mr. Stoppable." The officer calmly ordered from his seat.

"No," Ron moved away from the table and pointed at the man, "You think I did it," he looked at the mirror that, if every police drama he'd ever seen had been telling the truth, was really a one-way mirror, "I didn't do it," he screamed, tears starting to flow down his face, "I found her almost dead and you're wasting time interrogating me," he put his hand over his chest and clenched the cloth of his shirt, "You have to let me go. We have to find who did this."

"I said, sit down, Mr. Stoppable," the officer stood up and reached for his taser.

Not paying attention to the man, Ron put his hands against the glass, "Please," he pleaded, his throat too sore to yell anymore, "you have to find him…you have to find him."

"Mr. Possible," the officer shouted as he drew and aimed the taser at the boy, "I need you to calm down." Rational thought kicked to the curb, Ron knelt into a fighting stance, ready to defend himself if need be.

"Officer Carmichael," a voice came in over the intercom at cut through the tension that had built between the boy and the interrogator, "Miss Possible is awake. She is asking to see Mr. Stoppable."

Hospital

Escorted by Officer Carmichael, Ron burst into the emergency room and nearly fell to his knees when he saw Kim weakly waving at him, "Kim," a sad smile grew on his face as he slowly approached his girlfriend. Afraid that he was going to hurt Kim he knelt by her side and gently held her hand, "You're all right." His tears fell to the bed and Kim patted his head with her free hand before pulling his hand to her lips and kissing it.

"Miss Possible," Officer Carmichael interjected himself into the scene, "I'm afraid I need to ask you a few questions."

Kim let out a sigh. Seeing this, the doctor on call, a tall, 40-something year old woman with graying brown hair turned to him, "Officer, I'm sorry, but my patient needs her rest. I'm afraid your questions will have to wait until tomorrow." The woman looked at Kim's chart and shot the girl a wink, which was met with a thankful smile on behalf of the redhead.

"Very well," the officer said, obviously more than displeased by the delay in his investigation, "Mr. Stoppable, I may be calling you for further questioning."

Before Kim or Ron could protest, the officer turned and left the room, leaving the two young adults and the doctor on their own, "Ron, it's okay," she put a finger under his chin and lifted his head so that their eyes met, "I'm more worried about you."

"How can you say that?" Ron pulled away and stood up. He buried his head in his hands and started pacing the room, "You…you were kidnapped, and nearly killed. And they think I did it."

"What—" Kim tried to get him to clarify, but he kept going.

"They questioned me for hours, and the entire time I didn't know if you were alive or dead."

"Ron."

"And now you're here and alive, but I don't know what to do and—"

"Ron!" Kim and Ron turned to the doctor, dumbstruck at her outburst, but a soft smile appeared on her face and she continued in a calm voice, "why don't I give you some time alone." She left the chart in the slot at the foot of Kim's bed and left the room.

A moment of silence followed as both of the young adults tried to find a way to voice their thoughts. Afraid of another one of Ron's freakouts, Kim was the first to speak up, "Ron, what do you mean they think you did it?"

Ron sat down in a chair by the door and rubbed his tired eyes, "I mean, they never said it. But why else would they be questioning me like that?"

"Maybe they were just looking for clues," Kim said, though she knew that was doubtful. Ron was, after all, the only other person on the scene, and though she knew about the tracking device in her locket, Wade's inventions were more often than not too farfetched for anyone outside of their circle to accept as real. And given Ron's inability to look her in the eye, Kim had a feeling he had already experienced this firsthand, "Come here, Ron," she shifted over as best she could, doing her best to ignore the pain that it caused, and patted a spot on the bed.

Ron slowly rose to his feet and took a seat on the bed, though he refused to look at her, "Do you know who it was?"

"No clue," Kim said, "But let's not talk about that right now," Ron looked over to her and saw her smile, her pale face, the exhaustion in her eyes, but despite everything he felt a warm wave of relief flow through him. For all the bad that happened, she was okay.

"Well," he forced a smile on his face and did his best to adopt his usual upbeat tone, "at least I didn't have to be the one to break your heart."

It was a little darker than Kim was used to hearing from Ron, but it was a step in the right direction, "For your information," she said in as snarky a tone as she could muster in her groggy, post-surgery state, "She missed my heart." She closed her eyes and yawned, "Bitch wasn't going to take me out that—" she trailed off and quickly fell asleep. Ron was surprised it had taken that long. Getting stabbed, surgery, an IV drip of what he could only assume was some form of painkiller cocktail.

Seeing her asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling with each breath, gave him assurance that everything was going to be all right. He stood up from the bed and moved to the chair so that he could pull it to her bedside. He wasn't going to leave her side any time soon.

Area Unknown

Somewhere deep underground, the Doctor sat calmly at his desk, "Doctor," his assistant's voice came in over the intercom.

"Yes, Emma?" he responded, eagerly awaiting the news she had to give.

"The girl lives. I am sorry."

The Doctor clenched his fist tight enough to crack his knuckles, but quickly relaxed his grip and assumed his normal calm demeanor, "I see," he reached into the drawer on his right-hand side and pulled out a small black book, "No need to apologize. I had failed to account for the sidekick," punishing subordinates for their leader's mistakes was hardly the way to run a business, "Was the boy found at the scene?" the Doctor opened the book and wrote a quick note to himself.

"Yes. Our mole within the LAPD has ensured that Ron Stoppable will be a prime suspect for quite some time."

"I can't imagine our target will be so warm to the idea," The Doctor liked having his fingers in as many places as he could, but there was only so much he could do while his victim was still alive, "She will no doubt officially clear his name soon enough." He stood up and paced his office as he tried to think up a plan.

"Doctor, what if we placed a hit on the girl?" the Doctor started shaking his head in disapproval at his assistant's suggestion, "With her bedridden it wouldn't be too hard to take her out."

"No. We must not underestimate the Stoppable boy again. Trying to have the girl killed so soon might draw attention to our plan," he stopped pacing the room, "hmm," he uttered, "but perhaps you are on to something." He went back to the book that was still open on his desk and flipped back to the first page, "Emma, do me a favor. Would you please call the good officer for me?"

The Doctor walked over to the one large window in his office and drew the curtain, letting the first rays of sunshine of the morning seep into the room, "Let them have their peace for now. An attack at this time would not be wise."


	2. Chapter 2

2 Years Ago: Middleton High School Junior Prom

As Kim moved in to kiss the boy who had his arms gently wrapped around her, she felt a heaviness in her heart; a tiny hint of fear that told her that nothing would ever be the same again. But the moment their lips touched, all of her fears and all of her troubles slipped away. The warmth of being in his embrace, the comfort of his hands pulling her in closer, and the knowledge that no matter what danger they may face the next day or a year down the road he would be beside her…it was how Kim always dreamed her prom would end, though never in a million years would she have guessed that the boy would be Ron Stoppable. Clumsy, dependable Ron.

Kim pulled away from the kiss and the two looked into each other's eyes, smiling, "Come on," Kim took the boy by the hand and quickly led him past Mr. Barken and through the double doors out of the gym.

Rufus, seeing Ron leave, quickly tried to run after the two, but Monique quickly swiped him up, "Uh uh, little man," she said as she opened her hand, palm up, and let him stand, "It took this long, let's give them some privacy."

When they reached the football stadium, Ron pulled Kim to a halt, "Kim, what are we—" but before he could finish, the girl grabbed him by the collar of his powder blue tux and pulled him in for another kiss, "Okay," he said, dazed by the action, and the two sat down on the grass. With Ron to her left, the two lay there on the fifty-yard-line, hand in hand, staring up at the stars until the music from the dance ended and students started pouring out of the gym.

Hospital

Kim woke up a few minutes past noon with a throbbing pain in her chest. Instinctively she put her hand over the area, but she instantly regretted her action when putting pressure on the healing wound mixed with the sensitivity of the stitches added to the pain. "Jeez," she pushed her back off the bed slightly and gripped the sheets to bear against the pain, stirring Ron in the process.

"Kim," he yawned as his eyes slowly focused, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and lowered herself back onto the bed, though some of the pain remained. She knew she should be thankful that the blade was small and that it had missed her heart, but she wanted to get out there and find whoever it was that tried to kill her in the first place.

"Okay, Kim, I know that I'm no master boyfriend, but I know that when you say 'I'm fine,'" he punctuated his point with a actual air quotes, "you really mean you want to kick someone's butt."

"Duh," Kim said as she scrunched her face, displeased with the circumstance, "But every minute I'm in here, whoever did this to me is out there planning their next move."

"Well when can you leave the hospital?" Ron asked, hoping for some good news.

"Leave? A week. Get back to saving the world? Who knows?" Kim's expression softened and a frown appeared on her face.

Ron didn't know if she was sad, or upset, but he figured the best he could do was try to lighten the mood, "Well, look at the bright side KP. It looks like the leagues of Evil have been pretty calm about the whole taking of the world thing ever since graduation. Maybe they'll hold out on their plans for a bit longer. Maybe this was just their monthly quota or something."

Kim gave him a look that had "shut up" stamped all over it, but her expression quickly turned to one of gratitude once she realized this was Ron's way of telling her not to worry about it. Plus, she couldn't stay angry at that stupid smile of his, "Thanks, now come here," she reached her arm up around the back of Ron's neck, amazed at how much her strength had returned after finally getting some sleep, and pulled him in for a kiss. Their lips touched for the fist time in what felt like an eternity, and Ron slid a hand behind Kim's head and lifted to make things easier on the girl. "Ow."

Ron recoiled, "I'm sorry," he said frantically, "Did I hit something?"

Kim let out a chuckle, "Don't worry," she pushed herself up as best she could and turned to the side so that she could give Ron a reassuring look, "Whoever took me did quite a number on my head. No biggie." Ron relaxed slightly at her explanation, though the worry clearly hadn't left his face, "Hey Ron, pass me the remote."

Kim pointed to a remote at the foot of the bed, and Ron passed it to her, "Kim, you don't have a TV in here, what's the remote—" Before he could finish his question, Kim hit a button that caused the back of the bed to rise to an angle so that Kim could sit upright, "Oh," he said with a hint of his usual child-like wonder coming back, "how spacey."

Kim let out another small laugh, "I can always count on you to find amazement in the simplest of things."

"You know it KP."

The door to the room opened and the doctor walked in with a pleased look on her face, "Good to see you looking happy, Miss Possible," she looked over at Ron, "And my, I didn't see you coming in, Mr. Stoppable," she gave him a wink.

"Kim," Ron whispered to his girlfriend, "What's she talking about."

"No overnight visitors except for immediate family," she responded at a normal volume, "Right, Dr. S?"

"Dr. S?" Ron gave the woman a quizzical look, "What's the S stand for?"

"Dr. Savage," the tall woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "but trust me, that's the last name you want to have as a doctor." She let out a chuckle, "Well, except for Kevorkian, perhaps." Despite the doctor's amusement at the joke, Kim found it rather dark and Ron hadn't understood it to begin with, "But back to the topic of rule breaking, I believe this belongs to you," she reached a hand into a pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a familiar pink blob.

"Rufus, I was worried sick about you," Ron said, though secretly he was too worried about Kim to wonder where his pet had been. He had simply assumed that Rufus had, as he was prone to do when Ron and Kim needed some time alone, run off to his dorm room to eat his stashes of food.

Rufus immediately jumped out of Doctor S's hands and onto the bed, whereupon he ran straight to Kim and nestled itself in her hair, "I'm happy to see you too, Rufus," Kim said as the hairless rodent hugged the side of her face.

"That's a curious pet you have there, Mr. Stoppable, just make sure he doesn't run out again. I can be lax with some of the rules, but I won't tolerate a pet running around the hospital. Luckily I caught him before he found himself compromising the health of another patient." The trio let out a nervous smile at the doctor's stern words, thankful that she hadn't ordered the rodent and Ron to leave.

The doctor spent the better part of the next hour checking Kim's vitals and making sure that her wound was on the proper route to recovery while Ron stood outside, adamant about staying close to Kim until she was ready to leave.

Dr. Drakken's Evil Lair: Somewhere beneath the Pacific Ocean

Dr. Drakken paced the top deck of his secret underwater lair as he wracked his brain for a solution to his most recent problem, "I've tried everything," he wailed, wishing that he had managed to replicate his plant serum so that he could once again enlist the help of his mutated plants, "But no matter what I do it just won't work."

"Have you tried brute force, Dr. Drakken?" Drakken looked over at the man who gave the suggestion. Over seven feet tall, muscular, clad in the standard red and black goon uniform, with a gravelly voice to match, the man was one of the few remaining loyal henchmen the doctor had after saving the day.

"That's you're suggestion for everything Ajax," Drakken said as he continued his pacing.

"Um, sir, my name isn't Ajax, it's Kevin." The henchman corrected the doctor.

"I know that," Drakken stopped his pacing and screamed at the man, "But how scary is someone named Kevin," Dr. Drakken stuck his tongue out as if the utterance of the name itself was enough to make him sick, "But Ajax, that's a strong name."

"Okay," the henchman agreed, more out of convenience than anything, "But why not brute force?"

"Because," the doctor threw his arms down, and continued in a patronizing voice, "a delicate touch is needed to handle an operation such as this. If we use brute force we run the risk of catastrophic failure."

The henchman raised a quizzical eyebrow at the response, "But sir….it's a pickle jar."

Dr. Drakken breathed out an annoyed sigh. Pickle jars have long been a nuisance for the man, and he often relied on Shego to get them open after scores of his own men failed to remove the lid, "Yes, but have YOU tried opening it lately?"

"Yeah, it was stuck, but if we just cut through the top or something I'm sure—"

"NO!" Drakken cut him off, "Where's Shego. She's the only one I can trust with this."

"Um, don't you remember, sir? She went off to California. Something about Kim being in the hospital."

Dr. Drakken blinked in disbelief a few times, "…..What?"

Hospital

"Mom, Dad, I'm so glad you could make it," Kim said from her hospital bed as Ron stood up to hug her parents.

"My, Ronald," Dr. Ann Possible said with a nervous laugh, "Good to see you too. I trust you've been keeping a close eye on Kim these past two days?"

"But not too close," Dr. James Possible interjected by sticking a finger in Ron's face, ever vigilant about the danger of boys and Ronalds in her life.

"Relax Dr. and Dr. P," Ron pointed his thumb at his chest with a triumphant smile, "With me watching her, what could possibly go wrong?" The three Possibles exchanged wary glances and Ron relaxed his pose, "Okay, yeah, whatever."

"Ron's been a great help, Dad," Kim reassured her father. She didn't want to alert her parents to this bit of distress she had felt the day before, but she felt she owed Ron credit where credit was due, "How was your flight?"

"Oh never mind that Kim," her mother sat at the foot of the hospital bed, "we've been worried sick about you," it wasn't until now that Kim and Ron noticed how haggard her parents looked, no doubt resulting from a few restless nights, "You have no idea how relieved we are to see you awake."

"Thanks Mom," Kim looked past her father who still stood near the door, "Um…where are the tweebs?"

The two Doctor Possibles simultaneously started rubbing their temples and let out a sigh.

Middleton High School

Mr. Barken paced back and forth at the front of the classroom like a drill sergeant as Jim and Tim Possible sat slouched in their chairs in yet another detention, "Possible, Possible," he said and the two straightened up, "I know that you are becoming all too familiar with my detentions, but I can't believe how many times I have had to go over this with you….no rerouting of the school's power supply for your experiments."

"But sir," Jim started.

"How else were we supposed to generate enough power to open up a wormhole?" Tim finished. The two always had a knack for creating sensational inventions with everyday appliances….of course, the liberal application of jet fuel and experimental parts helped quite a bit.

Mr. Barken slammed a fist down on each of their desks, "Listen carefully because I don't want to repeat myself," he narrowed his eyes at the two, "No more opening transdimensional wormholes in the physics lab," he still didn't know what the word meant, he was just copying what the teacher who caught them had said. He looked aside and dropped his voice, "we're still finding prehistoric moth's from the last time." Mr. Barken never thought he would see the day when Ron Stoppable was not at the top of his nuisance list.

Hospital

"So how long are they in detention for?"

"Until summer break," Ann said, "No excuses, no exceptions."

"Huh, that's less than two weeks," Kim crossed her arms, happy that doing so only a slight pain that was more annoyance than anything, "do you ever feel like that school is too lenient when it comes to potential serious property damage?"

Seemingly ignoring Kim's question, the female Dr. Possible turned the topic of conversation back to her daughter, "Well Kim, you seem to be doing well. I'm surprised at how quickly you seem to be recovering."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Ron started scratching his chin and narrowed his eyes quizzically at the girl, "I suggested that coming into contact with all of those supervillains must have mutated her to be super strong or something," Ron folded his arms and an annoyed look grew on his face, "But the doctors said she probably just has a high tolerance for pain or something."

"Well it is remarkable," Ann leaned in close and inspected her daughter, "but then again you always seem to be able to do things that no one else can."

"Yup," her father put his hands on his hips and proudly said, "That's the good old Possible Gene. Nothing can keep us down for long." James reached into his pocket, "By the way, me and the boys built you something that may be of use," he pulled out a small remote, no bigger than an electric car opener, with a single blue button in the middle.

"Neat, Dad," Kim said, though she lifted a curious eyebrow at the device, "What is it exactly."

"Well, you see it's a—"

"Hiya Kimmie," an attractive woman with black hair dressed in a dark green business suit said from the doorway. She started taking her first step toward the redhead, but a blue barrier instantly erected itself around her, "What?" she said, more out of confusion than annoyance.

"Forcefield generator," Kim's dad finished, and he pulled his finger off of the button, proud that the success of the invention.

"Shego," Kim narrowed her eyes and tried to push herself up from bed, but the action set off the pain in her chest, causing her to fall back onto the bed, gritting her teeth against the pain, "Good to see you finally dropped the gaudy outfit."

"Yeah, I gotta say," Ron said with just a little too much enthusiasm in his voice, "you pull off the business look quite well."

"Ron," Kim shot at him tersely, "Not helping."

"Relax," Shego said from within the forcefield, "I'm not here to kill you. I just wanted to make sure you were all right." Ron and the Possibles gave her unbelieving looks and stood in complete silence, "Oh please," she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "It's not like I care about you all of a sudden. I just had to make sure you weren't finished off. That honor's all mine." She threw Kim a wicked smile, and the girl returned the look with a glare.

"So what," Ron said, putting himself between Kim and her nemesis, "You here to finish the job?"

"Oh please. Like I'd stoop so low." Again the occupants of the room shot her the disbelieving look, "Oh come on," she let out, "Do you have any idea how pathetic it would make me look to kill you after you nearly had your heart plucked out? Besides, Drakken doesn't pay me overtime, so I'd say you're pretty safe."

Kim glared at Shego for a moment while Ann, James, and Ron looked back and forth between the two women, until Kim let out a sigh, "I can't believe I'm saying this….Dad, let her go." Her dad hesitated a moment, but complied. "So what," she said now that the forcefield was down, "You just thought you would drop by? Give me some flowers? Bring some chocolates to the injured girl?"

"Yeah, not appreciating the tone, Possible. Here's the deal, someone tried to kill you. That means that someone is about to try and do something cliché like take over the world. Now, as jolly and good as that sounds, I can't let them kill you on the way. They need to know that you are mine, and if they get in my way I will end them," she took a step closer so that she was mere inches away from Ron, "So who did this?"

"No clue," Kim said, refusing to break eye contact with the woman for even a second, "So why don't you get out of here before I show you that even in a hospital gown I can still kick your ass?"

"Hmph," Shego chuckled, "good to see your little near-death experience hasn't taken it out of you." She turned and walked past the male Possible, but stopped just outside the doorway, "Best keep a lookout Kimmie, other villains might not be so nice."

She continued down the hallway and out of sight. "Well," Ann said, cutting the awkward silence that followed her departure, "That was oddly polite…all things considered."

Hospital: Midnight

Clad in his black ninja garb, Monkey Fist crawled through the air vents of the hospital, eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to take out Kim Possible once and for all, "Soon," he said to himself, "soon enough the Possible girl will be out of the picture, then nothing will be able to stop me from getting revenge on that pesky sidekick of hers." He had to stifle his laughter, lest he alert whatever staff members had the night shift.

He had heard through the Villain Grapevine that Kim Possible had been hospitalized by some unknown force, "how impolite for them not to fess up," he said to himself. Landing such a damaging blow on the girl wonder was a feat in and of itself, and the only reason that Monkey Fist wasn't disheartened by the failed assassination was the fact that it opened up the opportunity to take the credit for himself.

"Here we are," he said as he came to a grate in the air vent that led to the room Kim Possible was being treated in. He pulled out a small, monkey shaped laser and pointed it at the grate before turning it on.

"The lass won't stand a chance," a man with a Scottish accent said, causing Lord Fiske to look up and see none other than Duff Killigan cutting into the very same grate with a golf tee-shaped laser.

"Killigan?"

"Monkey Fist? What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to kill Kim Possible," the spliced man answered, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to kill Kim Possible."

The two narrowed their eyes at each other and pronounced simultaneously, "Not if I get their first."

No longer caring about stealth, the two cut into the grate at a faster rate and fought each other to be the first to descend, with Duff coming out on top. Once on the ground, he grabbed the curtain that obscured Kim's bed and was about to wrench it open, when a hair fist grabbed him by the wrist, "Wait," Monkey Fist urged, "Rather than me and you fighting, which will inevitably draw unwanted attention to whoever has been assigned to watch her, why don't we do it together?"

Killigan thought about the proposition for a moment before nodding, "All right," he drew out his favorite club and brandished it like a sword, "but if you try and take the glory all for yourself, I'll hit you so hard it'd make William Wallace look like a wee baby in comparison."

"Fine…..on the count of three," the two took a deep breath, "One." Monkey Fist drew a knife.

"Two."

"Three," they said simultaneously and they threw the curtains open, revealing an empty bed.

"What?" they said in unison.

"Oh, are you two here to see Kim?" Dr. S said from the door, and the two would-be-assassins hid their weapons behind their back, nodding with terrified smiles plastered on their faces, "Well I'm sorry," she wrote a note on her clipboard, not bothering to pay much attention to the two intruders, "But she's been moved to her hometown. Oh, and visiting hours are over," she said as she started to walk away, "So I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

As her footsteps disappeared down the hallway Killigan turned to Monkey Fist, "Wait a minute. I thought you were turned into stone."

Monkey Fist, obviously displeased by being reminded of the incident hunched over slightly and with a scrunched face said, "I got better."

The two villains looked at each other and groaned, disheartened by their inability to ever catch a break.

Middleton: Possible House

Kim had been situated in her room, which had been converted by several of Ann Possible's colleagues to serve as a temporary hospital room until Kim had recovered, "Mom," she said as the woman finalized the setup, "thanks, but really, you didn't have to go through the trouble."

"Oh nonsense Kim, I'm sure the last thing you want to do is spend the first few days of summer vacation in the hospital," she took Kim's arm and cleaned it with an alcohol swab, "Besides, this way you don't have to stick to visiting hours."

Ron and her dad had to stay behind for one more day. Ron still had one exam to sit through, which according to Wade the boy had actually studied for, while Dr. Possible was charged with getting Kim's things home. While she had responsibly started packing up before the incident, there was still some work to be done. Of course Ron probably hadn't even started packing.

"I guess, if it's not too much…" she winced as her mom stuck her with the IV, "...Trouble….Is that really necessary?"

"You heard what the doctor said. If you feel too much pain you might do something to open your stitches, so until then, the IV stays in."

"Fine," Kim said, though even if she understood the reasoning behind it, she wished she could go out for just a few minutes. The sedentary lifestyle had never really agreed with her. However, with the exhaustion from the flight and the move, mixed with the painkillers, Kim soon found herself drifting into sleep.

Area Unknown

Emma stood behind the young scientist as he tapped away at his computer, "Voila," he exclaimed as he executed the final function of his program, "That should do it."

"And you're sure this will work?" Emma put a hand on the back of his chair and looked closely at the screen, utterly baffled by the seemingly random sequences of numbers and letters that rested behind the progress bar that was quickly moving closer to 100%.

"It should, provided the sample you brought was clear enough. But this type of work can be finicky," he leaned back in his chair and stretched his pale, lanky arms over his blond head, "There's a lot of information to fill in between the gaps of data, and if the sample wasn't clear, it might not work." He had explained that his invention would only work from live recordings, so if Emma hadn't listened and had gone and recorded from a television or radio, it would fail.

"It was clear, Nicholas. I got it right from the source," Emma assured him, and soon after, the screen flashed 'Program Complete.'

"Wonderful," Nicholas unhooked a small disk-like gadget from the computer and handed it to her, "Here you go. You just attach it to any sort of microphone… or any audio transmitter really…you can mimic that person's voice."

"Thanks," she attached the disk to the back of her phone and held it up to her ear, "Well Nicholas, does it work?" she asked to test it out.

"You bet it does….wait, was that Kim Possible's voice?" he said with amazement, "Do you know her? You must." He had long been a fan of the girl, and one day hoped to meet her. She had the exciting life he always wanted. And with the money he now had he could easily make a little investment in meeting her and perhaps training to replace that Stoppable guy as her sidekick…..though he figured it would probably be best to start off with a get well card.

"It sure was," she said, and she started tapping away at her phone, "Your money has been deposited into your bank account. Our friend in the IRS will make sure no one tries to investigate it."

"What, no briefcase full of money?" Nicholas asked only half joking as he stood up and cracked his slightly hunched back—a result of his height, gangliness, and tendency to hunch over at his computer "I've always wanted to be paid like that."

"That's a thing of the past," Emma shrugged as she pocketed her phone, "but tell me, how does it feel to be a 16 year old with two million dollars?"

"It feels great. Hey, just out of curiosity, why did you need to mimic Kim Possible's voice?" he put his hands in his pocket and laughed a little, "I mean, I get that your boss is eccentric," Emma smiled at the fact that the boy had bought the tale that she was hired by a man with….peculiar tastes, "But why her? Seems like a bit of an odd choice for an old…er man."

Emma smiled, "Well it's good to see your reputation is well deserved," she temporarily ignored the reasoning behind why she wanted Kim's voice as she reached behind her back, "and if you really want to know how I managed to get the sample," she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I got it when I tried to kill her."

Nicholas' eyes went wide, and before he could react Emma fired two shots into his stomach. He fell on the floor, bleeding and shaking as the reality of what he had done became clear, "And thanks to you, my failure can be amended," she fired one last shot at his head, hitting him right between the eyes.

She holstered the gun in her waistband and once again raised the phone to her ear, making sure to separate the disk before talking, "Officer," she said to her mole, "Thanks for sending us the kid. He was a great help," she took a step away from the body as the pool of blood started seeping toward her, "you'll find two million dollars in your bank account in the morning. Our guy in the IRS will cover it up, so just don't spend any of it until he gives you the okay."

"You got it." He responded, and Emma shut her phone. She took one last look at the teenager she had just shot before reopening her phone and snapping it in two.


	3. Chapter 3

Middleton: Possible House

Kim was absentmindedly reading a magazine when the doorbell rang for the ninth time that morning alone, "Great," she groaned, "Yet another batch of get well cards." Fans and past clients had been dropping cards, chocolates, and gifts on their doorstep over the past 24 hours, and it was really starting to become a drag. Being bedridden in a hospital was one thing, but being bedridden in her hometown was another. Monique had already started working her summer job at Club Banana by the time Kim arrived, and hadn't been able to get time off to see her friend yet, leaving Kim alone with her thoughts, books that she'd already read, mindless daytime television, and the many letters that had been sent to her after the attempt on her life.

"Come on, Ron," she looked at her watch, wishing that Ron would pick up his phone so that she could call to see when his flight was supposed to land. He had his last exam that morning, meaning he should be arriving at any second. And until then she had settled with reading about last summer's fashion trends.

When a knock came at the door, Kim dropped the magazine in her lap, "Mom, just leave them in the pile with the other letters. I'll get to them when you let me out of this bed," her parents had been surprisingly strict about Kim getting her rest. Although her mom had finally agreed to take the IV out that morning, they refused to leave the room. Kim figured it must be some sort of compensation for letting her go around the world risking her life on a weekly basis.

"Umm, Kim," she perked up at the familiar voice, "Was that some sort of code that I forgot about? Are you in danger?" he asked, his voice growing a little panicky, but then he dropped to a more subtle tone, "or….indecent?"

She let out a little giggle. Ron always had a way of unintentionally cheering her up, "Come on in, Ron," she threw the magazine to the side as her boyfriend walked through the door, "How was the test?" as he closed the door she noticed the dark bags beneath his eyes and his more stooped than normal posture, "Bad?"

"Brutal," he said, "I…" he looked around the room, obviously curious about the hospital equipment, "What happened?"

"Mom. She set this up so that I wouldn't have to be in a hospital."

"Nice. You seem to be doing better," he said, noticing that she looked much more well rested than the last time he saw her. He walked up to her and picked up an instrument from a nearby table, "why do you need one of these defribri-thingies?"

"The Defibrillator? I don't know. I don't think my mom knew how serious a condition I would be in when she asked her coworkers to set this up." With her index finger she motioned for Ron to move closer, "Come here."

He walked closer and took her hand in his. She started to pull him closer, but he quickly pulled back, "Oh, wait Kim. I haven't brushed my teeth in like, three days, and I haven't had anything to eat or drink except Redbull and Slim Jims since I woke up."

"I don't care," she gave him a suggestive look and pulled him into a kiss, too happy to see him to care about his breath. Going to school at different colleges made things difficult despite their proximity, and with recent events Kim wanted nothing more than Ron by her side.

"Hope I'm not disturbing anything," Ron quickly stood up as Ann Possible walked into the room with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh, not at all Ma'am…um…just…uh, telling Kim a little secret," he let out a small laugh and Kim slapped herself in the forehead with her palm in disbelief at her boyfriend.

"Uh huh," the older redhead said and she looked at her daughter, "Just don't let your father catch you two telling secrets," she walked over to the bed and handed Kim an envelope, "It's from UCLA."

"Probably just my grades," Kim said as she tore the top of the envelope and pulled out the contents.

"Let me guess, straight A's?" Ron folded his arms and happily shook his head, "Leave it to KP to always be the overachiever."

"Well someone in this relationship has to be," Kim's mom laughed at her daughter's comments and Kim unfurled the document. "Let's see….Biology-A…..Chemistry-A minus," her mother's face glowed at hearing about her daughter's success in those particular courses, "Geography-B."

"Wait, B?" Ron questioned as he leaned over to look at the paper, "You've travelled all around the world, how did you get a B?"

Kim shrugged, "For some reason villains had a tendency to cause trouble Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:00. I'll bet attendance knocked me down a few points," she looked back at the page and continued, "History-A and Criminology…..C plus?"

Both Ann and Ron's jaws dropped at the news, "C plus?" they said in unison. Kim was by no means a 4.0 student, but to get a C plus as a final grade was astounding, "How could that happen?" her mother snatched the report out of Kim's hands, "Do you think your teacher was biased against you? Some people do consider you a vigilante. Maybe he—"

"Mom, chill" Kim cut her mom's ranting short, "Professor Mac grades on a bell curve, and some of my classmates were really smart. I'm sure their final papers just beat mine out."

"Okay," Ann said as she walked to the door, not entirely convinced that her daughter had been treated fairly, "I'll take your word for it, you're responsible enough to handle this on your own now." She closed the door on her way out and Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, you two took that much better than I thought. When you said C plus I expected—"

"Ron, how can this happen?" she shoved the paper in his face, "Me….a C plus?"

"Kim, relax, it's like you said, he's on a –"

"He doesn't use a bell curve, Ron." she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Okay, I'm confused….. what's a bell curve exactly?" Kim let out an angry groan and pulled her knees to her chest. "Kim I'm sorry," Ron put his hand on her back, "But hey, It's only one semester. You've got six more to make up for it, and last semester you did great."

"I know…I'm just sick of having to be in bed. I feel fine, and my stitches are supposed to be able to come out in a few days, but my mom won't let me leave the bed except to use the bathroom," she straightened her legs out and looked up at the ceiling, "I mean, I get that they have to keep an eye on me, but why does that mean I have to be cooped up inside?"

"Kim, she's just worried about you. I'd be the same way if I were her. You spent the last year at college. At least when you were in high school your parents would know that you were okay the moment you walked through the front door, but now they have no idea when you leave for a mission or if you even got back safe." He knelt back down at her side, "I'm sure she's just making up for a year of not being able to constantly parent you."

Kim looked over at him with a questioning look, "It's funny how you're never this insightful when it comes to our relationship."

"Hey," Ron closed his eyes and put his hands on his hips, "a man doesn't write poetry, a poet writes him."

Kim raised an eyebrow, "Crappy plane movie?"

"Yeah," Ron dropped the pose, "how they pick those things I will never know.

Go City

Hego, Mego, and the Wegos all hid beneath whatever cover they could find in Go Tower as deadly lasers fired by cyborgs clad in black and white robes whizzed by overhead, "Hego," Mego shouted from his place beneath a coffee table, "have you been able to get in touch with Possible?"

"No luck," Hego responded from beneath a now trashed computer console as he tried desperately to contact the boy genius on his communicator, "I can't get in contact with Wade, and without him we can't get Possible."

"So we're on our own?" the Wegos said in unison as the upturned table they had hidden behind was vaporized by a laser blast.

"It appears so," Hego said, "But you know what," he came out from hiding and activated his powers. Three beams were shot his way, but he easily dodged them, "I say we show them what Team Go is capable of."

The other members of the team came out of hiding and assumed attack formations to make their last stand, "GO TEAM GO!" the group charged the horde of cyborgs, reaping destruction as they went, intent on taking down as many of their enemies as they could before they fell.

Middleton: Stoppable House

"You have got to be kidding me," Ron said with a look of annoyed disbelief on his face while Rufus stood on his shoulder with a jaw-dropped expression, "You cannot be serious." His house was covered by a tent with the logo "Pest-Be-Gone" written in a large, bold font on the front, "You," Ron said as he marched over to a man wearing a hazmat suit, "What's the deal?" he pointed at the tent-covered house and waited for an explanation.

"You the Stoppable boy?" the man said through his gas mask, "You're dad left you this." He reached into a bag and handed Ron a letter.

"Oh not again," Ron said as he took the letter, already knowing what to expect, "Dear Ron," he read in a somewhat disinterested voice, "The house had to fumigated….cockroaches…termites….mechanical spi…mechanical spiders?" Ron voiced his surprise and he and Rufus exchanged a confused shrug before he continued, "Blah-blah-blah, gone to Vietnam to explore…" Ron trailed off and crumpled the paper into a ball, "Yeah, yeah, I get the drill," he threw the crumpled up letter over his shoulder and pulled out his phone. He dialed Kim's number and waited for her to pick up, "Hey Kim," he said as he got on his scooter, which was only a moderate upgrade to his old one, "Yeah, change in plans, tell your Dad not to drive my stuff over….yeah, parents left the country….. Vietnam…. Fumigation…. mechanical spiders…. Thanks, I'll be over in a minute." He hung up the phone and started riding back to the Possible House.

Middleton: Possible House

"Thanks again for letting me stay in your guest room Mrs. Dr. P," Ron said as Kim's mom led him upstairs.

"Oh it's my pleasure, Ronald," she said.

"Yes," Kim's dad said in a less than pleased tone as he arrived at the scene, "our pleasure," he dropped a duffel bag at Ron's feet, "Your essentials," he said rather tersely, "I let the boys test an x-ray machine on your stuff. I think that is all you will need."

"Wait, X-ray?" Ron questioned, nervously rubbing the back of his neck as the man turned to walk away, "You didn't happen to look in the red bag, did you?"

The male Dr. Possible looked over his shoulder and gave Ron an all-knowing glare that sent shivers down the boy's spine, "Your things are in the garage….I trust you only need the essentials," the man's brow furrowed even deeper at the word and he continued on his way downstairs, leaving Ron in a small state of panic, while the female Dr. Possible inwardly chuckled.

"Why don't you go check on Kim," she said before following her husband downstairs, and Ron, once he deposited the black duffel bag on the guest bed, quickly obliged.

With Ron out of sight, Jim and Tim quickly got to work, "I can't believe Dad's letting us do this," Jim said as he and his twin started drilling several strange gadgets to the doorframe.

"I can't believe he's paying us," the two snickered and high fived. Motion sensors, alarms, a tripwire that would activate a trap of the tweeb's ingenious invention…..with a boy sleeping so close to Kim's room, James Possible wasn't taking any chances.

Middleton: Possible House

3:00 AM

"Oh Ro-ooon," that familiar feminine voice, the drawing out of his name in a cutesy way, the feeling like he was being watched, this could only mean one thing.

"Kim," Ron rubbed his tired eyes, expecting to see Kim standing at his bedside, but was shocked to see her directly above him on the bed, "Ki—" he nearly shouted in surprise before the girl covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shh," she said, "let's go." She pulled her hand away and got off the bed.

"Wait, Kim, what are you doing?" Ron whispered as he slid out of bed, "Didn't your mom say you weren't supposed to go on any missions?"

"Um, hello," she threw Ron a pair of cargos and a black t-shirt, "Do these look like my mission clothes?" she motioned at her outfit: a black turtleneck and brown cargo pants.

"Um…yes, actually," Ron said as he threw on the shirt and stumbled his way into the pants, falling back onto the bed in the process, "Though I must say, it is nice to see you baring your midriff." He took a moment to enjoy the retro look when a thought struck, "Hey, wait…I thought Club Banana discontinued those lines."

"They did," Kim said, "But luckily college students lose clothes like you wouldn't believe, and I just happen to know where to find what I like."

"Wait," Ron put up a hand to stop her with a look of disgust on his face, "So you're telling me you're wearing someone else's clothes right now?"

"Umm….yeah."

Ron's expression did a complete 180, "Sweet," he exclaimed in as excited a whisper he could muster, "I knew my stylistic slobbishness would rub off on you one day."

"Uh-huh, sure, Ron," she said as she walked over to the already-open window and stepped over to the exterior of the house, "Come on."

"Umm…Kim, you have a front door."

"Yeah," Kim rolled her eyes, "Dad really upped the security on your door. I'd rather not risk it. I had to come through the window so that I didn't set off any alarms."

"You'd think your dad would have expected that," Ron said as he pulled his shoes on and moved over to the window.

"Ron, I think he was more afraid of you visiting me than of me visiting you," she playfully tapped him on the chest before jumping down to the yard below. Ron followed suit, leaving Rufus sleeping on the pillow on the bed, however his shoelace ended up catching on a nail, and he fell forward, landing on his stomach on the soft grass. "You okay, Ron?" Kim asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah," Ron said as he fought to get his wind back, "Ribs…who needs them, right?"

Middleton High School

Kim and Ron lay side by side on the football field, gazing up at the stars, "And that's all I remember," Kim said, finally giving Ron the details of the night, "I was in my room, then I woke up in that basement, and you know the rest."

"That's rough," Ron said. Not wanting to worry her, he hadn't told Kim about his experience with Officer Carmichael. He felt bad about keeping that a secret, but with everything she'd gone through Kim didn't need any more on her chest.

With the exposition dealt with, the two lay beneath the stars feeling relaxed for the first time in what felt like forever, "You know," Ron said, "As terrible as this school was with the cliques, the flaky teachers….the mystery meat," the two let out a visible shudder at the mere thought of the food they had been subjected to throughout high school, "I do sometimes miss it."

"I know what you mean," Kim said as she folded her hands over her stomach, "I have a lot of fond memories. Cheerleading, constantly getting to see this place blown up," she looked over at Ron and took his hand in her own, "prom." It had been two years since they had been on that spot, and the memory of the night was just as fond as ever for the two young adults. Kim squeezed Ron's hand a little tighter, "Getting to see you every day."

"Kim, I—" Ron started somewhat guiltily, but Kim silenced him by putting a finger to his lips. She shook her head, conveying that so long as they were still together in the end it would all be okay. Sensing this, Ron cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her into a kiss, still feeling guilty about what he had to say.

Duff Killigan and Monkey Fist watched the scene from the shadows of the bleachers, "Aww," Killigan said, unable to contain the happiness it aroused in him, "Just look at the two of them."

"I am," Monkey Fist said, snapping the golfer back to his senses, "And I see the perfect opportunity."

"Right," Killigan drew out his nine iron and gripped it tightly, "So how does this play out? Take out the sidekick, then we share the credit for the girl?"

"No," Monkey fist said as he narrowed his eyes at his target, "The girl is all yours. I have a score to settle with Stoppable." Walking on all fours, the man left the cover of the bleachers and quietly approached the couple.

"Suit yourself," Killigan said to himself as he teed up his first explosive golf ball, "More fame for me."

First they heard Monkey Fist's screech as he grabbed Ron and threw him several feet away from Kim before beginning his charge. Then, just as Kim was about to help, she a loud Scottish, "FOOOOOORRRE!" rang across the field and a small white ball landed at her feet. She just barely managed to jump out of the way when it exploded, though the force of it did prevent her from landing on her feet.

"Killigan," she said as the Scotsman started charging her, "And Monkey Fist," she looked over to see Ron fighting for his life against the monkey-human hybrid, "What are these two doing together?" With not a moment left to spare, Kim jumped to her feet and raised her arm up to block, just as Killigan swung his club down at her head.

"Dude, come on," Ron said as he managed to back away from Monkey Fist's attack, "weren't you, like, stonified."

Monkey Fist growled, "I got better," before launching another attack that Ron just barely managed to hold his own against.

"Killigan," Kim smirked as she grabbed hold of the man's club and tried to wrench it from his grasp, "Haven't seen you in a while. I thought you finally wised up….looks like I was wrong."

"Oh, you'd think that," Killigan, in a surprising move, let go of the club, throwing Kim off balance, allowing him the punch her in the chest with one of his massive fists, forcing her to fall to her knees and drop the club at her side, "But you'd be wrong," he picked up the club and was about to swing it at Kim's head when the girl ducked, allowing the club to swing harmlessly overhead, before launching forward, driving her elbow into the man's sternum.

Even with her opponent temporarily down, Killigan's strike had done quite the number on Kim, so she decided the best course of action would be to run away.

"I know what you can do," Monkey Fist said as he effortlessly pushed away an exhausted Ron, "show me your true power."

"Look, I can't, okay?" Ron screamed, terrified, as he fought to keep his arms up to block his enemy's next attack, "So if you came here hoping to prove something, you're out of luck."

The determination in Monkey Fist's face drifted away, "Very well," and he charged Ron at full speed, pinning the boy to the ground, "If you can't use it on command, you are not worthy of your power." He raised his fist above his head, ready to smash Ron's head in, when Kim kicked Fist in the back of the head and pulled Ron up.

"Come on," she said with her hand over her chest, doing her best to fight against the throbbing pain that attacked her with every breath, "Run."

They didn't stop until they were certain that Monkey Fist and Killigan weren't following them. Ron, though exhausted, managed to stay on his feet, but Kim wasn't faring as well. She fell to her knees clutching her chest and coughed up a storm, "Kim," Ron said as he tried to put a supporting hand on her back, but she pushed him away and sat against a nearby wall, "Kim, what's happening?"

She let out another stream of coughs before she could answer, "I'm fine," she took in a few deep, strained breaths before she spoke again, "Killigan punched me in the chest," she pulled up her top, causing Ron to look away, and was happy to at least see that her stitches hadn't ripped, "What were those two doing together?" Kim asked, hoping that Ron wouldn't concern himself too much with her safety.

"I don't know. But Monkey Fist seriously needs to get over this jealousy he has over my powers."

"Speaking of which," Kim tried to let out a little laugh, but it only led to another short burst of coughing, "You seemed to be able to hold your own quite well. Been training?"

"A bit," Ron blushed at the acknowledgement. He hadn't been able to tap into his powers like he had when Kim was taken during Graduation, so he'd taken a Kung-Fu class at his school's gym per Kim's request, "Still have a long way to go though."

"No problem," Kim used the wall to help her stand up now that the pain was finally going away, "it just means you get to be my training partner when the stitches come out." Even though it had been less than a week since the attack, she hadn't been on her game while fighting Killigan. Sure, she was injured, but she had to be prepared. Shego was right, not everyone was going to wait for her to be better.

Kim and Ron started the long trek back to the Possible house as the sun started rising on the horizon, "You mean I get to be your punching bag?"

"Yeah," Kim jokingly admitted, "But look on the bright side."

Ron waited for her to explain, but when she just kept walking in silence he felt the need to ask, "What bright side?"

"I don't know," she playfully shrugged, "But I'm sure you'll figure that out."

The two managed to sneak back in undetected before any of the other Possibles were up for the day. However, the fact that the two college students slept in until one in the afternoon was more than enough of a giveaway that Kim hadn't been in bed all night.

Middleton Police Department

"A transfer, from where?" the Chief of Police Locken, a man with signs of aging and a gut beginning to appear after nearly three decades on the force, asked as the sudden news of a new officer passed by his officer, "and on such short notice?"

"From Los Angeles, sir," his subordinate Captain Barrel said as he handed the man's file over to his superior, "Officer Jack Carmichael. Aged 29. Passed the LAPD academy with flying colors. Has a spotless record."

"Well then we're lucky to have him," the Chief of Police looked at the young man in his office, "Don't you think?"

The man had to fight the urge to scratch the back of his blond head—a habit that the Chief of Police was trying to get him to kick, "Hard to say, sir."

"Good," the older man said as he dropped the file on his desk, "Show him the ropes, take him to meet the Possible girl before he tries to arrest her for vigilantism like the last transfer." The department never could shake that memory. Poor Officer Wrecker thought he was about to make his first big arrest in a new town, only to end up interfering with Kim's mission. In the end she thought he was one of the bad guys and he ended up suspended from a building alongside over a dozen henchmen.

As Captain Barrel turned to leave, Locken had one more thing to say, "Oh, and Captain…keep an eye on him, would you?"


End file.
